David Higgerson: Readers do want to get involved in serious stories, and metrics prove it

Audience metrics dispel the myth that readers are mostly interested in fluffy stories and don’t want to get involved in serious stories, David Higgerson writes. For local news organizations, Higgerson says this means your big, hard-hitting stories have a chance to resonate with readers and reach a wider audience. Higgerson writes: “[Metrics] tell us what’s worked and what hasn’t and give us clues about how to make the stuff we consider to be important, work too. … Audience metrics, shared widely with everyone involved in a story, help ensure the stories we think are important reach wider audiences — especially when we make the most of the digital tools afforded to us.”

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